Mean Girls Star Avantika Vandanapu Credits Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots For Propelling Her Love For Cinema

Avantika Vandanapu, who plays Karen Shetty in the new iteration of the popular teen comedy Mean Girls, made her acting debut with 2016's Telugu film Brahmotsavam. Born to an Indian family in California, the actress recently talked about Asian women’s representation in Hollywood and credited films like Matilda and 3 Idiots for pushing making her fall in love with cinema. 

Avantika Vandanapu praises Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots 

In a conversation with PTI, Avantika said that South Asian women, especially of Indian origin, taking center-stage in global titles like Bridgerton and One Day was long overdue. Crediting the women paved the way for actors like her to come up, Avantika said she and her contemporaries hope to do similar for "future generation of South Asian women" so things are a bit easier for them.

Growing up on films such as Matilda and 3 Idiots, which she described as a heartfelt portrayal of the human condition, propelled Avantika's love for cinema.

"Matilda shaped my interest in wanting to be in films. 3 Idiots is a classic, it was such a big film for me. I am inspired by heartfelt movies that feel like a true representation of what it means to be human and what it means to live," she said.

What is Mean Girls about? 

Mean Girls, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr, is billed as a new twist on the 2004 modern classic which comes from the comedic mind of Tina Fey.

The new film follows Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who joins her new high school's elite group 'The Plastics', run by Regina George (Renee Rapp) and her minions Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and Karen (Avantika).

When Cady falls for Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she is at loggerheads with Regina. As Cady sets out to take down Regina with the help of her outcast friends Janis (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating high school.

(with inputs from PTI)